The present invention relates to a control system for the selection and storage of each phonograph record side to be played in a coin-operated musical amusement machine or juke box with a storage and a credit mechanism.
A coin-operated juke box, as already known in the art, has a number of individually playable phonograph records in a magazine and a drive mechanism which lifts individual phonograph records from the magazine, places the record on a turntable, plays the record and returns the record to the magazine. The use of a record selection device, which makes it possible to select certain record sides is known in the art. It is also known how to provide a storage unit in order to store the selected record side. These control systems are basically of a mechanical or electromechanical nature, and they therefore require extensive servicing due to their wear and contact properties.
Also, control systems with magnetic core storages are already known. However, such storages involve a very cumbersome manufacturing process. In addition, there are known control systems in juke boxes, which mainly use electronic elements, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits in order to facilitate quick operation and a more economic manufacturing process. However, these systems have a relatively large susceptibility to trouble and use a large number of such electronic elements (components), so that once again the same disadvantage as with the use of magnetic cores results. Finally, there is also known a system where shift registers are used in conjunction with an auxiliary register as storage. However, such a system has the decisive disadvantage that the information stored during the read-out time of a line cannot be taken into consideration during this read-out time.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a control system of the initially mentioned type which is as simple as possible, assures easy programmability, combined with a low susceptibility to operating trouble.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a control system of the foregoing character which has parts readily accessible for maintenance, and which has a long operating life.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a control system, as described, which may be economically fabricated.